The Song: Book 1 The New forest
by Tigersong0013
Summary: Under the wing has song sheltered,During the time of the cats it shall vanish,Traveling with wind and others,For it is the star's wish,On the night of the stars,Shall they return,But must leave at the wing's command,Or the whole forest will burn.
1. Prologue: The Prophecy

**THE SONG****: Book 1- **The New Home

**Prologue**

A golden she-cat with mossy green eyes was pacing along the side of a starry pool, stars shining in her fur. Next to the pool, crouching and gazing into its sparkling depths, was a snow-white she-cat with pale green eyes. She, too, had a starry pelt.

"What do you see Snowblizzard?" the golden cat hissed impatiently.

"Patience, Mapleleaf," Snowblizzard murmured. "All will come clear soon enough." Though Snowblizzard was visibly younger than Mapleleaf, her voice had a wiser tone to it.

"Patience," Mapleleaf grumbled. "All I seem to be able to do is be patient. I _need_ to know, Snowblizzard."

Snowblizzard sighed.

"Alright then, Mapleleaf. Since she _is_ your kin."Snowblizzard looked back at the pool and, lowering her head, blew gently on the starry surface, making the water ripple. When it cleared, it showed an image of a kit. The kit's fur was as silver as moonlight and her eyes the same exact color as Mapleleaf's. As the two cats watched, the she-kit sniffed curiously at a nettle patch, then pulled away and ran to a bramble den, twigs and leaves woven thickly to create warmth and security. She raced to the entrance, only to be met by a dark brown half-mottled she-kit with twinkling pale blue eyes. A silver-and-white she-cat stepped behind them, her green eyes bright with amusement and she started licking the silver kit clean.

"Birdwing," Mapleleaf breathed."My dear Birdwing."

"It is clear now, Mapleleaf. We have asked the Pool of Stars to guide us to the one in the prophecy. It is now obvious who must fulfill it."Snowblizzard meowed.

"Moonkit. My granddaughter, only two moons and already the heart of a prophecy."Mapleleaf mewed.

"And now, my dear friend, we have an important matter to resolve."Snowblizzard meowed, looking at Mapleleaf expectantly.

"Yes, yes of course."Mapleleaef answered."I'll be back later."

Mapleleaf dashed into the world of the living, heading for ThunderClan's camp.

Into the trees of oak, beech, and maple, and many more. Mapleleaf's golden paws skimmed the ground as she joyously bounded through the territory, as she had done so many times before. And then, when the pack of four foxes had moved into the territory, all that had changed when she was struck down by the leader for killing its mate. She reached the camp entrance and padded inside.

She headed to a cave, somewhat away from the main part of the camp. In this cave were rows upon rows of herbs and berries. In a nest made of moss and feathers lay a golden-ginger she-cat. She was sleeping, awaiting her dreams.

Mapleleaf bent her head and whispered,"Larkflight."

The she-cat's eyes opened and she saw Mapleleaf. She sat up and looked over the StarClan she-cat.

"Mapleleaf?"Larkflight asked." Last I saw you alive was when I was in the nursery. I haven't gotten a message from you yet. This must be important for you to come here ."

"It is important. If this prophecy is not fulfilled, then it may well be the end of the Clans, as many of the prophecies would have been. The prophecy is:

_Under the wing, has song sheltered_

_During the time of the cats, it shall vanish_

_Traveling with wind and others _

_For it is the star's wish_

_On the night of the stars_

_Shall they return_

_But must leave at the wing's command_

_Or the whole forest will burn"_

Larkflight blinked.

"But what does it mean?"she asked.

Mapleleaf shook her head.

"I'm terribly sorry, Larkflight. But I can't tell you. No matter how I want to. You'll have to figure it out for yourself."Mapleleaf mewed.

Her form began to fade, until she was only a breeze, flying out of the den.

Larkflight pondered the prophecy for awhile, until the moon was directly overhead outside the den.

She lowered herself back on her nest and slept.

***

The next day, Larkflight was out searching for herbs close to the camp when she heard a gentle voice on the soft breeze:

_"For it is the star's wish_..."

Then the gentle voice of Mapleleaf was gone.


	2. ALLEGIANCES

**ALLEGIANCES**

**THUNDERCLAN**

LEADER

**ADDERSTAR-** black tom with yellow eyes

APPRENTICE, Blackpaw

DEPUTY

**MORNINGSHADOW-** gray she-cat with black paws

MEDICINE CAT

**LARKFLIGHT-** golden-ginger she-cat

APPRENTICE, **FLEETPAW-** light brown she-cat

WARRIORS

**PATCHFUR-** brown and white tom

APPRENTICE, Flowerpaw

**FALCONCLAW-** dark brown tom with pale green eyes

APPRENTICE, Greenpaw

**STRIPETAIL-** white tom with ginger and white striped tail

APPRENTICE, Mallowpaw

**BLUEPELT-** blue-gray tom

**MOSSFOOT-**brown and white she-cat

APPRENTICE, Snakepaw

**WHITEWHISKER-** white tom

APPRENTICE, Lightpaw

**HOLLYTHORN- **black and white patched she-cat

APPRENTICE, Moonpaw

**MUDPELT-** dark brown tom with light brown mottled spots on his flanks

**REDSPOTS-** white, brown, and ginger splotched tom

**OTTERSPLASH-** slender dark brown she-cat

APPRENTICE,Brackenpaw

**DARKTANGLE-** dark gray tom

**FOXFUR-** russet-colored she-cat

APPRENTICE, Daisypaw

**BADGERSTRIPES-** black-brown tom with white srtipes

**SANDCLAW-** gray tom with sandy-colored paws

**TOADPATCH-** black tom with dark brown patches

APPRENTICE, Mousepaw

**BIRDWING-** silver and white splotched she-cat with dark green eyes

**NIGHTGAZE-** light brown she-cat with very dark blue eyes

**VOLECLAW-** little tan-brown tom

APPRENTICE, Palepaw

**RAINFACE-** light gray she-cat with a dark gray speckled muzzle

**BRIGHTPELT-** white and yellow she-cat

APPRENTICE, Violetpaw

**STONECLAW-** stone-gray tom

**THISTLETOOTH-** pale gray tom

APPRENTICES

**BLACKPAW-** black tom

**GREENPAW-** tortoiseshell she-cat

**VIOLETPAW-** ginger she-cat with blue-purple eyes

**SNAKEPAW-** dark gray and white tom

**PALEPAW-** pale gray tom

**LIGHTPAW-**pale gray she-cat with a dark gray speckled muzzle

**FLOWERPAW-** cream she-cat

**MOONPAW-** slender silver she-cat with dark green eyes

**MALLOWPAW-** dark brown she-cat with light brown mottled spots on her flanks and pale blue eyes

**MOUSEPAW-** light brown tom with pale blue eyes

**DAISYPAW-**yellow she-cat with pale blue eyes

**BRACKENPAW-** golden-brown tom with yellow eyes

QUEENS

**PETALFUR-** white and dark ginger patched she-cat, mate of Patchfur, mother of Breezekit(light brown she-kit), Beetlekit(dark brown tom-kit with white paws), and Graykit(gray tom-kit)

**SKYCLOUD-** sandy-colored she-cat, mate of Darktangle, mother of Spiderkit(dark gray she-kit) and Featherkit(sandy-colored she-kit)

**CLOUDNOSE-** white she-cat, mate of Badgerstripes, expecting Badgerstripes kits

ELDERS

**YELLOWPETAL-** yellow she-cat with blue eyes

**BRAMBLELEAF-** dark brown she-cat

**NO-EAR-** black tom with a horribly shredded ear

**ORANGEFOOT-** dark ginger tom with orange-ginger paws


	3. APPRENTICE DAYS

**APPRENTICE DAYS**

"Get up, you lazy furball!"

Moonpaw blinked her eyes and yawned.

"What?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

Her friend Mallowpaw was standing over her, her pale blue eyes shining with excitement and dark brown, half-mottled fur almost bristling.

"Stripetail and Hollythorn are taking us on a patrol around Fox-Place."Mallowpaw meowed.

That woke her up more.

She and Mallowpaw, and Mallowpaw's siblings, had been apprentices for a half-moon and had been cleaning nests and bringing cats fresh-kill. They only stepped paw outside the camp to get moss for nests and to catch a fresh mouse for mouse-bile to get rid of the elders ticks, other than their first day of apprenticeship, when their mentors had taken them around half the territory, as custom.

"Great! If I have to even _look_ at another tick in the next quarter moon, I'll go insane."Moonpaw drawled.

"Me too. They said to get some fresh-kill and meet them by the Moss Clearing."Mallowpaw meowed as the two she-cats slipped out of the fern den that was the apprentices den.

"So long as it's not a mouse."Moonpaw mewed and both she-cats giggled.

The passed by a group of other apprentices, including Greenpaw a tortoiseshell she-cat who was Moonpaw's father's apprentice. Brackenpaw, a golden-brown tom, Snakepaw, a dark gray and white tom, and Lightpaw, a pale gray she-cat with a dark gray speckled muzzle, were with her.

Moonpaw and Mallowpaw waved their tails in greeting.

They selected a fat rabbit to share and devoured it hungrily.

A loud cough behind them made them turn.

Palepaw, a pale gray tom, Lightpaw's brother, was coughing and he ran out the camp entrance and vomiting sounds came from outside the camp.

He came back a moment later and trudged to the medicine cat's den.

Moonpaw looked at Mallowpaw, then at the mostly eaten rabbit.

"I'm not hungry anymore."Moonpaw meowed."Me neither."Mallowpaw looked at the rabbit with a sick look on her face and both she-cats sprang up and padded quickly out of the entrance, making a wide arch around the place where Palepaw had been moments before.

When they arrived at the Moss Clearing, it was to find Hollythorn and Stripetail talking in low voices.

When they heard the she-cats coming they straightened up.

"Come on then."Hollythorn meowed. She led the three other cats out of the Moss Clearing and into the forest. The two mentors were leading and the two she-cats were behind them, gazing around in amuazement. A robin was just rising off the ground and Moonpaw leaped into the air after it. But her leap was untimed. Her claws yanked off a couple feathers from the bird's tail and she landed, feeling disappointed.

"Good jump,"Hollythorn praised." Just check your timing. We'll have hunting practice tomorrow."

This made Moonpaw feel happier.

"That was amazing!" Mallowpaw exclaimed, happiness and pride for her friend dancing in her eyes.

"Thanks."Moonpaw replied.

Soon they came to a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a big pile of boulders overgrown by grass.

A sharp scent stopped Moonpaw short.

"Fox."Hollythorn apparently had seen Moonpaw's confused expression.

"They're dis_gusting_!"Mallowpaw exclaimed, wrinkling her nose.

"Shh!"Stripetail scolded."there are three foxes in there. A mother and her two kits. The cubs we have seen already. They're younger than you and about the same size as you. We don't want a mother fox with kits coming after us."

Mallowpaw hushed.

Moonpaw bumped her gently, comfortingly.

Mallowpaw nodded, letting Moonpaw know she was aware of the gesture.

Stripetail seemed about to say something else, but was interupted by a hiss from Hollythorn.

"Hide!"she hissed.

Stripetail and Hollythorn streaked into the brambles. Moonpaw glanced around and shot up a tree, followed by Mallowpaw.

It was an oak, so,when they reached the first branch, they were at least two foxlengths high, and had a great view into Fox-Place, since the branch they were on stretched to the middle of the boulder pile.

They stayed near the trunk more, so they were above the edge of the clearing.

Now Moonpaw knew why Hollythorn had told them to hide.

An animal, as big as three cats put together, was coming out of a gap between the boulders. It was a russet color, with a long white muzzle and a bushy, white tipped tail. Its paws were white, too, and its legs were black.

And its gleaming teeth were yellow.

Mallowpaw squeaked and Moonpaw slapped her tail across her mouth.

The fox froze.

The she-cats froze.

The fox looked around, sniffed the air, then went back inside the boulders.

Moonpaw led as they scrcambled down.

Stripedtail and Hollythorn were waiting for them at the base of the tree.

Once their paws touched the ground, Stripetail and Hollythorn took off toward camp.

Moonpaw sped after them, followed by Mallowpaw.

Half-way to camp, the four cats slowed.

When Moonpaw reached her mentor, she was gasping.

"Are you alright?"Hollythorn asked both of them.

Moonpaw nodded, too out of breath to answer.

Mallowpaw drew in a shaky breath and asked,"Was _that_ a _fox_?"

Stripetail nodded.

"It was huge!What if it had seen us?"Mallowpaw meowed.

"It didn't and wouldn't. The fox would have followed us back to camp if we ran. But foxes are both cowards and clever. If they're around enemies that outnumber them, they flee. But if they've more members than the cats at hand, they'll attack. Two cats for the fox is almost an even match. Three is almost too much for a grown fox. Four cats make the fox try a little at fighting, but it'll flee if us cats put up a fight."Her eyes were sparkling with amusement.

Stripetail wasn't as happy.

"The fox must've scented that you two weren't fully grown yet, otherwise it probably wouldn't have come out at all. And we wouldn't _have_ as many foxes in our territory every couple moons if the Twolegs hadn't put those boulders there in the first place!"Stripetail growled.

"We've already been over this, Stripetail,"Hollythorn mewed."Twolegs do stupid things 'cause they're too stupid to do anything else. They might know that we live here_. Might. _And if they do, than they don't care. And we can't do anything about it."Turning to Moonpaw and Mallowpaw she meowed,"Come. You two look tired out."

Hollythorn glanced at the sky. It was sunhigh.

"And no wonder,"Stripetail meowed."We've been out since dawn."

The four cats trotted briskly back to camp and Moonpaw and Mallowpaw pretty much collapsed by the apprentices den.

All their excitement, which had kept them going, turned into exhaustion after their long run and their terror of the fox. They were _tired_.

"Hey!Moonpaw!Mallowpaw!"

They turned their heads to see Mousepaw, Mallowpaw's light brown brother, and Daisypaw, Mallowpaw's yellow sister. Seeing them all together, near each other, was almost weird, though Moonpaw was used to it. It was almost weird because they all had the exact same eyes, as though they had all copied their father's eyes and now all had the exact same sky blue eyes.

Mallowpaw was an exact copy of her father, from the light brown mottled flanks to the dark pink nose. The only difference between the two were gender and age.

If Mallowpaw and her siblings' and father's eyes were like the day sky, then Mallowpaw's mother had eyes like the night. They were so many shades darker than Mallowpaw's that you'd have a hard time pinpointing her as Mallowpaw's mother from a group of she-cats. Unless you knew it, it'd be almost impossible.

But, like Moonpaw's mother to her, Nightgaze(Mallowpaw's mother) loved her kits enough to tear a new lake in the ground, if needed. At least, that's what Moonpaw's great aunt, Yellowpetal, liked to say.

Yellowpetal was her mother's aunt. She had yellow fur and a strict tone.

"What're you guys doing on the ground?"Daisypaw meowed, bringing Moonpaw back from her thoughts.

"We were chased by a fox!"Mallowpaw blurted out.

Two pairs of identical blue eyes widened.

"Really?"Mousepaw asked.

"Where?"Daisypaw inquired.

"Were you hurt?"Mousepaw questioned.

"Did it smell bad?"

"Did you chase it off?"

"Was there more than one?"

"Did you kill it?"

"We weren't chased by a fox!"Moonpaw meowed, glaring at Mallowpaw."We _hid_ from a fox before it even saw it. We weren't hurt and it did smell bad. We didn't chase it off and there was only one. And we didn't kill it 'cause we didn't get the chance to."

"Oh, ok."Mousepaw mewed." Have you had any fresh-kill yet?Brackenpaw and Greenpaw brought in a pheasant just now, but they'd eaten before they hunted so they didn't eat it. Come on hurry!"

All four apprentices hurried to the fresh-kill pile, hoping to get a big pheasant. But when they had gotten to the fresh-kill pile, Snakepaw was already selecting the pheasant.

Downcast, Moonpaw turned to leave.

"Hey, did you want this?" Snakepaw called behind them.

Moonpaw turned to see the dark gray and white tom dragging the pheasant over to them.

"Here," he meowed once he had set the pheasant looked at Moonpaw." You can have it. I'm not hungry enough to eat this whole thing anyway."

"Thanks."Moonpaw meowed to the tom.

"You're welcome."Nodding to each of the apprentices in turn, he turned, selected a pigeon, and went to sit by the apprentices den.

The four hungry apprentices fell on the big bird with almost savage hunger, eating it down to the bones and feathers.

And, since their mentors had given them the rest of the day off , since some warriors (including their mentors) went down to investigate the Fox-Place further, the four apprentices chatted and shared tongues until nightfall.

Before they went to sleep, Moonpaw padded over to her parents, who were sharing a fat vole together.

Her mother, Birdwing, was a kind silver and white she-cat with dark greens eyes and a soft voice. Moonpaw had inherited her mother's eyes, who had inherited _her_ mother's eyes, and so on.

Falconclaw, Moonpaw's father, was a dark brown, muscular tom-cat with pale green eyes.

"Moonpaw!"Falconclaw meowed."How have you been? I heard you went out of the camp today to almost get eaten by a fox!"

"Hush now, Falconclaw,"Birdwing chided gently."And you, Moonpaw, look exhausted. Go on to your nest. I don't want you too tired to stand."

"Alright. Goodnight mother, father."Moonpaw meowed, then hurried over to the apprentices den.

She slipped inside to find all the other apprentices asleep.

She settled into her nest beside Mallowpaw's and Greenpaw's, slipping into sleep.


End file.
